Monday, February 6, 2012

The Gradual Dawn That will Bring Them Home - A journey shared by humanity

Let me tell you of the Muslims, as how I have come to know them…

The Dervishes and Their Music

It is not the words and the melodies that make their music wonderous, but the love that they poured forth from their lips and their musical instruments.

The Poets and Their Handiwork

It is not the poetry and the prose that make their writing captivating, but the love that is drawn and written by the nib of their pen.

The Builders and Their Mosques

It is not the high minarets and celestial domes that make their mosques rapture in worship, but the love in which they call upon God.

Their Homes and Their Beautiful Friendship

It is not the perfumed presence and their gentle hospitality that make their company pleasant, but the thoughts that dwell in their mind, always asking, “How can I better please my guests sent by God?”

Their Warriors and Their Struggle

It is not their valour and courage that made them victors, but the mercy by which they struggle, more against their own egos than anything else.

Their Prophet and Their Devotion

It is not their dreams or their ambitions that make them unique, for like others, they too have their share of broken dreams and unfulfilled ambitions, rather it is their endearing devotion to their Prophet.

Their Open Happiness and Their Hidden Treasures

It is not hatred and anger that ennoble their struggle, but love that binds their every thought, their every handful of happiness and sadness, picking seashells from the Sands of Joy, tarrying on the Shore of Divine Pleasure, beside the Sea of Mercy.

Perhaps you will not comprehend this, certainly if you are locked by hatred and bigotry. And there will be some who will say that the Muslims are themselves chained to hatred and bigotry. But the fact of the matter is good and evil, if you would give it a name, are the sort of traits that are not in the sole monopoly of any faith or people. To some degree we all share them. And it takes a while, a whole life time (and more) for us to sift through the grain of life, and find our way home. A step at a time, a breath at a time, one sunrise at a time, and one sunset to end our daily toil and joy... A journey shared by humanity.

Their Path and Their Gradual Dawn

It is not their sudden awakening, but the gradual dawn that will bring them home.